The narrative of Conor McGregor’s latest loss – due to doctor’s stoppage in the main event of UFC 264’s trilogy bout with Dustin Poirier – hasn’t been so much about the fact that he was beaten, as it is the way he let himself be beat. McGregor may have gotten pummeled on the mat for the better part of a round, his leg may have snapped in two like a dried twig, but for many, the moment he really lost was when he sat on the canvas, after the fight was over, screaming death threats at his opponent from across the Octagon.
That was the moment that, for many fans and pundits, Conor McGregor looked like a loser.
UFC commentator Paul Felder recently sat down with welterweight contender Michael Chiesa for an episode of the UFC Round-Up where the two men discussed McGregor’s post-fight comments. And to hear the ‘Irish Dragon’ tell it, McGregor was quite literally in no position to be issuing death threats toward anyone (transcript via MMA Fighting).
“You’re on the ground with your leg broken in half at the bottom, threatening to kill somebody, to a man who has just dominated you twice in a row now, he could walk up and soccer kick you in the mouth, knock all your teeth out and leave you for dead on that canvas,” Felder said. “You’re the one who is in position to get killed, Conor, in that spot.
“Show some humility. Listen, this sport is violent. I get that. We’re supposed to beat the crap out of each other, knock each other out. But at the end of the day, it’s not about murder. It’s not about your family. Leave those things out of your mouth, or get the hell out of the octagon, I never want to see you again.”
Felder added that MMA isn’t a “street fight.” And that with the severe injuries that combat sports can result in, “to talk about that kind of stuff is just disgusting.”
McGregor’s coach blamed a rush of excess hormones for his fighter’s in-cage tirade. But the days following don’t seem to have seen McGregor soften his stance at all. He’s spent his time, instead, quoting Scarface on social media and posting pictures of Poirier and his daughter, alongside what seem to be veiled threats. If he was just caught up in the moment, that moment seems to be dragging out quite some time.
Dana White expressed his displeasure with McGregor’s antics as well, telling media that fighters should “leave people’s family and wives and all that stuff out of it.” However, that hasn’t stopped his interest in getting McGregor back in the cage, with plans to put together Poirier vs. McGregor 4 once the SBG Ireland fighter recovers from his injury. Even with McGregor doubling up on his latest L, it sounds like he’ll be getting exactly what he wants.
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